The story of the

skyscraper
America has given a lot of things to the world; but in terms
of urban lifestyle, none is as significant and as visible as the
skyscraper
    Tall buildings with their tips sometimes hidden in the clouds, skyscrapers have
become the symbol of modern urban civilization, and today they are found
worldwide. But until the mid-20th century, they were very much a distinctive
feature of the American city.

The skyline of Manhattan

If you ask a person to describe an American city, the chances are that he will mention
the word skyscraper. Tall buildings, their tips sometimes hidden in the clouds, have
become the symbol of the American metropolis, a symbol of twenty-first century urban
civilization.  American cities have not always had skyscrapers, but it is now almost a
century and a half since the first skyscrapers began to distinguish their skylines.

For millions of people coming to America from Europe, the first proof that they had
reached a new world was the moment when they first caught sight of the skyline of
Manhattan. Surrealistic, superhuman, the skyline was like nothing they had ever seen in
the old world — a concentration of tall buildings, their tops scraping the sky, hundreds of
feet above the ground. These were New York's famous skyscrapers! This was America!
The Home Insurance building, Chicago: 1884

The first skyscrapers, however, did not develop in New York, but in Chicago, in the late
nineteenth century. Chicago at that time was the boom town of the United States —
New York was just the front door. Chicago was at the center of the new American
adventure, and the new adventure was the West. Chicago was the point at which the
West began.

In the year 1871, a large part of booming Chicago was destroyed as a major fire
engulfed much of the downtown area. The fire, however, was a great stimulus to
architects: not only did it show them the need to design modern buildings that would not
be liable to burn very rapidly, but it also gave them plenty of opportunities to put their
new theories into practice.

By the late 1800's architects and engineers had made great steps forwards. Until the
nineteenth century, the height of buildings had been limited to a maximum of about
ten stories as a result of the building materials used — wood, brick or stone. With the
exception of churches and cathedrals, few earlier buildings went higher than this,
because they could not do so. And even the great churches of mediaeval Europe had to
respect basic mechanical constraints. The walls needed to be terribly thick at the
bottom, and often supported by complicated systems of buttresses and flying
buttresses, to stop them falling down.

In the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution resulted in the development of new
techniques, notably the use of iron. This allowed the building of much bigger buildings,
in particular railway stations, the "cathedrals of the Industrial Revolution", and exhibition
buildings. Opened in 1889, the nineteenth century's most famous iron and steel
structure reached unheard-of new heights. The Eiffel Tower, 1010 feet high, pointed the
way to the future: upwards!

Yet plain iron and steel structures had their limitations. They were not really suitable for
the design of human habitations or offices — and in the event of fire, they could
collapse very rapidly.

It was in fact the combination of the old and the new that allowed the development of
the skyscraper: the combination of metal frames and masonry cladding. The metal
frame allowed much greater strength and height, without the enormous mass and
weight of stone-built structures; the masonry cladding allowed traditional features, such
as rooms and partitions, to be included in the design with relatively few problems. The
man generally considered as the father of this new technique was the Chicago architect
William Jenney.

Though Jenney was the father of the metal-frame building, his own buildings did not go
any higher than contemporary brick or stone buildings already going up in Chicago,
New York, and elsewhere. Jenney's "Home Insurance Building" in Chicago (photo
above) was only ten stories high, and stylistically similar to other buildings which did not
use a metal frame.

It was left to Jenney's successors, notably Lewis Sullivan and David Burnham, working
in Chicago and New York, to go further. Burnham's "Flat-iron Building" in New York,
erected in 1902, reached new heights for an office building, with 20 stories; and at 290
feet (about 90 meters), it is known as New York's first skyscraper.

The reasons for building skyscrapers were clear, particularly in a city like New York,
whose downtown district, Manhattan, could not expand very easily on a horizontal
plane, limited as it was by the Hudson and East rivers. Apart from upwards, there were
not many directions in which Manhattan could grow. And once the building techniques
had been mastered, vertical expansion became the most desirable solution for the city's
businessmen.

Since those early days, and in particular since the Second World War, skyscrapers
have mushroomed in all the world's big cities; and they keep getting higher and higher.
Before the First World War, New York's "Woolworth Building" had reached 792 feet (241
meters) ; and by the Second World War, the Empire State Building —for many years the
world's tallest — had actually passed the Eiffel Tower. In the 1970s, the enormous twin
towers of the World Trade Center, 107 stories high, went even further. But did they go
too far?  As bold icons of modern America, they became the target of terrorism when
radical Islamic terrorists used passenger jets to destroy them, in the terrible events of
9/11  - the 11th of September 2001.

Architectural dreamers of a hundred years ago or more imagined cities in the

sky, giant buildings where people lived thousands of feet above the ground, above the
clouds, above the pollution. Today, although some people believe that modern
skyscrapers are too high, they now characterize cities all over the world; and they keep
getting higher. Fires in a few tall buildings, for instance in Dubai, have led to further
questions being asked; but in spite of the occasional disaster, skyscrapers are here to
stay — at least for offices and city hotels. Symbols of our civilization, they are not likely
to be replaced.

WORDS :
metropolis : very big city - catch sight of: start to see - skyline: profile -
stories: levels - constraints: limitations - buttresses and flying
buttresses: architectural supports used to hold up tall buildings, especially in Gothic
architecture - in the event of: if there is - masonry : stone, bricks or concrete
- cladding: exterior shell  - partitions: non-stress-bearing walls (stress: weight, force) -
downtown: central - to mushroom: to appear in lots of different places - giant :
enormous

The WORKSHEET

The Skyscraper

Interactive gap-fill exercises.  Use on screen or on paper 

Use of articles
Complete the following extract from the article, putting in the definite articles if and
when they are required.  If no article is needed, put  0.
To revise the use of articles,  visit the articles page  of the Linguapress online English
grammar
To save your answers, take a screenshot when you have completed the exercise.

In   nineteenth century,   Industrial Revolution resulted

in   development of   new techniques, notably   use

of   iron. This allowed   building of much bigger buildings, in

particular   railway stations, the "cathedrals of the Industrial

Revolution", and   exhibition buildings. Opened in 1889,   

nineteenth century's most famous iron and steel structure reached   

unheard-of new heights.   Eiffel Tower, 1010 feet high,

pointed   way to   future: upwards!

Yet   plain iron and steel structures had their limitations. They were not

really suitable for   design of human habitations or   offices —

and in   event of   fire, they could collapse very rapidly.

It was in fact   combination of   old and   new that

allowed   development of  skyscraper:   combination

of   metal frames and   masonry cladding.   metal

frame allowed   much greater strength and height, without   

enormous mass and weight of stone-built structures;   masonry

cladding allowed   traditional features, such as   rooms and

partitions, to be included in   design with relatively few

problems.   man generally considered as   father of this new

technique was the Chicago architect William Jenney.